Cerulean Lament
by silver-dagger-113
Summary: Cerulean: Blue: Sadness. Lament: To grieve over. Seto discovers something in Alister that he refuses to give up without a fight. How far would you go to save your enemy’s soul? ShounenAi
1. Troubled Thoughts

_Cerulean: Blue: Sadness.  
__Lament: To grieve over.  
__Seto discovers something in Alister that he refuses to give up without a fight.  
__How far would you go to save your enemy's soul?_

Warnings: Shounen-ai, Out-Of-Character characters, dub names

This is my first fic that's not humor, so please let me know what you think.

**Cerulean Lament**

**Chapter One: Troubled Thoughts**

He had lost.

No, he had lost the moment he had challenged Seto Kaiba to a rematch. He should have just walked away after their last duel, a draw. A draw! He'd never seen such a thing, let alone been part of one. Because it was a draw, neither of them had lost their souls. Perhaps the Orichalcos was displeased with him. It had never been denied a soul after a duel. Perhaps because of that, it would take his soul slowly and painfully, making him suffer before finally sealing him away forever. Not that he couldn't handle pain. Hell, practically his whole life had consisted of it thanks to that tyrant Gozaburo Kaiba.

_Gozaburo Kaiba, not Seto Kaiba. _

They share the same name.

_That doesn't mean anything. They're not even related, by blood, by love, or even by friendship. There's nothing that ties them together._

Except for Kaiba Corp, the company that made the weapons that killed my brother.

_The fault lies with the people who _used _them against the innocent, not with the weapons themselves. Besides, when Seto took over, he turned it into a gaming company. He destroyed the weapons, the places they were made; he even fired the people who made them. _

Seto. Was that really how he thought of the CEO now?

It's a fitting name, he thought bitterly. Seto. Lion.

_Yes, but it also translates to strait or channel. That's not very threatening. Besides, you can't base thing on names. Look at the name Kaiba: it translates to seahorse. I'd say Gozaburo was worse than a seahorse. _

Why am I defending him?

_Because you know you're both the same on the inside. Two boys at the time, their lives shaped and destroyed by a malevolent CEO. Quite romantic, actually._

There's no way he could have suffered as much as I have. As much as my brother did.

_There is and you know it. Seto and his brother, they had to live with that monster. He's the one who raised them, took away their innocence, their childhood. In some ways, it seems like you had the better life now, doesn't it?_

He still has his brother…

_All good things come at a sacrifice. Seto practically sold himself, body and soul to Gozaburo. He had to work hard, for the both of them, for if he slipped even a little, both he and his brother would be sent back to the orphanage. And what kind of a life is that, growing up with no parents? No family? _

He sighed, despite his still burning, though now dimming, hate for the brunette. Not a good one, he admitted. But how do you know all this?

_You've researched your opponent well. _

Are you my conscience?

_I'm what's left of your sanity._

Why do you sound right?

_Because deep in your heart, you know I am._

Had he been on the wrong side all along then? Perhaps Master Dartz had been manipulating him from the start, using him, his thirst for revenge, to take down Kaiba. Was he little more than an assassin now, a tool to be used and thrown away at one's whim? When tools grew old, they could be thrown away. And he hadn't even served his purpose. Now he would die, a broken tool.

Was it really vengeance if the person you were taking it out on was innocent?

"Alister."

The voice didn't belong to Mokuba Kaiba, who had been pleading with them both to stop the duel earlier.

Alister raised his head. There he was. Seto Kaiba standing across the Seal from him, looking as proud and regal as ever, his chestnut hair blowing wildly in the wind. He looked every bit the cold-hearted bastard he'd always been, the type of man who would attack an unsuspecting town without the slightest warning, walking away without a qualm across a path of corpses.

But looks could be deceiving, couldn't they?

His eyes said as much, his beautiful eyes, stunning against his dark hair. They had always been cold, except for maybe when he was a child, for all children were born innocent. The life they lived often changed that. If eyes were windows to the soul, then Seto had the shades pulled down tight. They were as frigid as the rest of him, a frozen beauty, deep pools of blue iced over to form a shield, not so much as to keep others out than to keep himself in. Locked deep within himself, never letting anyone get close enough to form even a slight friendship, he couldn't get hurt when they decided to betray him.

Those same eyes now seemed troubled. Worried. Afraid.

Of course, he had reason to be all of those things at the moment. Alister, who had been posing as the pilot, was now on his knees before him, about to lose his soul. Sure the plane was on auto-pilot, but to land safely, someone needed to land it manually. Life was never as easy as auto-pilot. Important things needed to be done with one's own hands if they were to mean anything at all.

Things weren't looking good for the attractive CEO.

But Alister knew Seto wasn't worried about his own life. It was his brother, always his brother, the only person in the world he truly cared about, that he was worrying about now. Because Seto actually loved the kid.

Because Seto and Alister weren't so different after all.

"Alister."

Then why had he turned that troubled gaze on him, when he should be thinking of a way to get himself and his brother off the plane?

With a grunt, Alister raised himself to shaky legs. The Orichalcos was being merciful, it seemed. It would let him say a few last words to Kaiba – no, never again would he be Kaiba in Alister's mind. Seto. Though turmoil swirls around you, even inside of you, to some you are the shelter in the storm.

"You should really be thinking of a way to escape," the red-head said, determined not to let his shaking knees take him back to the ground. "This plane isn't going to land itself."

Seto laughed bitterly. "We have no pilot. And though I may be good at many things, flying an airplane is not one of them."

Good-looking and _modest_, Alister thought sarcastically. He smirked painfully. "Come on, it can't be that different from flying a helicopter."

Seto grunted.

Alister glared. "Then you're just going to let your brother die?"

"Hardly. Roland should be here with a fleet of helicopters soon."

Snorting, Alister asked bitingly, "And if your stepfather's helicopter's don't make it in time?"

Ignoring the obvious insult in 'stepfather's', Seto answered simply: "Then I'll land the plane."

The focus, the determination sketched on his face, reflected in his eyes…Seto would let nothing endanger his brother's life. "But how?" Alister asked. "You just said you don't know how-"

"I'll land the plane."

And Alister believed it. He smiled and took a step forward. His legs felt heavy, like they were made of lead, and he had trouble taking the first step. But he kept going, lifting one leg, setting it down, picking up the other, repeat as needed. The Orichalcos was getting impatient. It would have a soul today. But not yet. Alister still needed to do something.

Until he stood in front of Seto, the CEO's eyes watching him impassively.

"I've realized I was wrong," Alister said, watching the brunette for any reaction, any sign that he was really listening.

None.

"Just now," he continued. "I've realized I've been on the wrong side all along. Because you're not your stepfather. You don't even run the same company anymore. Games don't hurt people."

"Well, there was this one time with a virtual reality game, but you wouldn't know about that." His eyes still regarded the ashen-eyed duelist blankly.

Alister moved closer. "We're not so different."

"Except for the obvious fact that I wear more clothing than you do."

Pain. Seto felt pain. Guilt. He had sentenced Alister to this, and he would make sure he paid for it later. It was all there, written in his eyes, scrawled in big bold letters. They reflected Alister's own pain, his guilt for putting Seto through this. It was like looking into a mirror.

Alister smiled. "Of course." With that, he leaned forward and kissed the brunette. Blue eyes widened as Seto recoiled, but Alister held him fast, determined to do this one last thing.

Seto relaxed, realizing he wasn't going anywhere until Alister was done with him. But he didn't mind. He would pay for what he had done and if this was the first step to redemption, he would do it, and do it with dignity.

Redemption wasn't what Alister was looking for as he ran his hands under that white coat with the Kaiba Corp KC insignia. He found what he was looking for rather quickly. Sighing through the kiss, he slipped something into an inside pocket of Seto's trench coat, hoping that it would be of use to the brunette later, hoping that Seto would feel the weight in his pocket and pull it out. Regretfully, he stepped away, leaving a rather breathless Seto.

"I don't blame you, Seto." Alister noted with a small stab of satisfaction how the brunette's eyes widened at his name, Mokuba being mainly the only one who used it. Alister smiled softly, then pushed Seto back with the rest of his strength.

Seto cried out, not because he had hit the floor too hard or because he'd probably sprained his ankle in the fall; Alister was still in the Seal, the fast closing Seal. And he was still smiling. Seto watched, unable to turn away, as Alister cried out in a final scream of pain, as the Seal took his soul in a blinding flash of green light.

Alister's body fell limp to the ground, a lifeless shell.

All was still for a moment, as if reality was letting the CEO take all this in. Then reality came back, hitting him like a truck on the highway.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried, pointing frantically to the cockpit. "How are we going to land this thing?"

Seto cursed and ran to the cockpit. Where was Roland? He looked out a window as he heard a chopping sound. Ah, there he was. But since the Seal had closed, they were back inside the plane and Seto had to land it anyway. Lovely.

He sat down in the pilot's chair, glancing at the controls and flipping the auto-pilot off. That'd be no help with the landing. Maybe Alister was right. How different could it be from a helicopter?

The plane took a dip downward, sending Seto into the control panel. Mokuba had fallen to the floor and was clinging to the co-pilot's chair. Grabbing the control, Seto pulled up. The nose moved up a bit, but not enough. They were still going to crash.

No. I won't let Mokuba die. I refuse to let this plane crash.

With a savage cry, he took to the controls once more, pulling up with all his strength. He didn't notice his duel disk, as the top card of his deck began glowing. Outside, a dragon appeared under the right wing. Two more suddenly appeared, one under the left wing and one on top of the plane itself. Together, the three dragons guided the plane to a flat area, slowing it down and setting it down gently before disappearing completely.

Outside, five people, one of which was unconscious, watched in awe as the door to the plane was kicked open and Seto Kaiba jumped out, carrying the body of Alister.

To be continued...

AN: Shall I continue?


	2. The Calm before the Storm

_Cerulean: Blue: Sadness.  
Lament: To grieve over.  
Seto discovers something in Alister that he refuses to give up without a fight.  
How far would you go to save your enemy's soul?_

Warnings: Shounen-ai, out-of-character characters, dub names

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I was a little hesitant to post this, but your reviews made me feel better about it!

­­**Cerulean Lament**

**Chapter Two: The Calm before the Storm**

"So you defeated this guy in a duel and the Seal of Orichalcos took his soul?" Joey asked, watching as Seto took in his surroundings. He looked…out of it. Like he wasn't all there. His eyes had widened when he had seen them as he got off the plane. That may not sound too surprising, but this was Seto Kaiba. He never showed any emotion. Ever.

"Maybe," Seto replied tersely, setting the unconscious red-haired duelist on the ground. Though he was displeased to find out just who those five people on the ground turned out to be, he supposed it would be better for Mokuba if he had some friends around. Even if said friends were annoying.

Sighing, Seto brushed the bangs out of Alister's face. "I'll get you back," he found himself quietly promising, though he wasn't completely sure why. It wasn't just because of the deep guilt he felt at his rival's defeat, the defeat he hand given. After all, Alister was only fighting to avenge his brother; wouldn't Seto do the same thing if he had been in Alister's position? No, it was deeper than that. He felt a connection with the duelist, more of a connection that he'd ever felt with anyone, even Mokuba.

He didn't want to lose that. If there was even the slightest chance that someone understood him as much as he thought he understood them, Alister, then he would do anything.

He would do anything to feel.

The sound of approaching helicopters made him look up. His helicopters, Roland hanging out of the door of the lead one, waving anxiously. Mokuba laughed and waved back, running to meet the landing flying machine. Seto's eyes took in the bullet-proof metal and glass, the loaded weapons. He knew that Alister said he didn't hate him anymore, but would he feel a stab of that hate now, hot and painful against cold skin, if he saw these helicopters now, armed and ready to kill?

Seto sighed and stood up slowly. His ankle was bothering him, but he was still able to walk on it. He took a step forward and lances of pain shot up his leg. He tried unsuccessfully to hide a wince and glanced about to see if anyone had noticed.

Everyone was too busy watching the helicopters, watching as Roland jumped off the machine before it had fully landed and rushed to wrap Mokuba in a warm embrace. Seto smiled. Roland had always been the kindest of his security guards. Was that why he had promoted the man to the highest rank, his personal protector, once his stepfather had died? Because Roland was kind and no one ever showed him kindness, only respect and how he longed to feel that directed to him.

The feeling of eyes watching him from behind, a feeling he knew well, made him freeze. Seto spun around to meet a pair of crimson eyes.

"Alright, Kaiba?" the Pharaoh asked quietly.

Seto stared at him blankly for a moment. "No." He paused, then added, "Better make it Seto."

His companion tilted his head, an unspoken question. Why?

Because I despise the name Kaiba. Because if you had known the real Kaiba, the founder of Kaiba Corp, my stepfather, you would want nothing to do with the name. Because it's tainted, if it ever was clean at all.

He shook his head. "Because I'm not too fond of the name at the moment."

Yami's eyes, for he knew the spirit's name, or at least what they called him even though he pretended not to believe, wasn't sure what to believe, were filled with sadness. He seemed almost empty. Seto had heard from the mutt – Joey – that Yugi's soul had been taked by the Seal of Orichalcos by a man named Raphael. Yami was in pain, perhaps blaming himself for Yugi's capture as Seto blamed himself for Alister's. Even so, the spirit managed a faint smile. "I can do that, Seto."

Seto nodded and turned around in time to be pulled into a hug.

"Seto." It was Roland. He sounded relieved. "You're alive! Are you alright?"

"Well, my ankle feels like it might be sprained and you're impairing my breathing, but besides all that, I'm fine."

Roland grinned and let go of his young boss, instead bracing an arm behind the brunette's back so Seto could lean on him. "Sorry, sir."

Seto rolled his eyes. Coming from Roland, the 'sir' was only for show, only to be used when other people were around. If anything, Roland had been more of a father to both him and Mokuba growing up than anyone else.

So why did he always push everyone who cared about him away?

"How much damage have we suffered?"

Roland's face fell. He knew something. "Sir, I'm sure I don't know-"

"Spare me." Everyone turned to look at him. That had been a little loud. Toning his voice down, Seto explained calmly, "Something else has to be wrong. Whoever sent Alister to take me down obviously had something bigger in mind. Why take me down? It's too difficult. Why go through the trouble? He was obviously after something I had, most probably my company. Sp tell me," he paused for a breath. "How bad is it? How much damage has my company suffered?"

Roland looked to his associates, other men of his status in suites and sunglasses, guns strapped to their hips. Then he looked to Seto, the tall brunette leaning on his shoulder, his ankle sprained. Seto was obviously the more dangerous opponent. He sighed. "I was going to tell you after you'd had a chance to recover some-"

"I can take it now," Seto assured him.

Nodding, Roland took a breath. "Kaiba Corp no longer belongs to you."

Seto's eyes widened. "Who took it?" he demanded, painfully aware of the others now gathered around the two of them.

Roland shifted beside him. Seto hadn't realized how heavily he'd been leaning on the older man. He was more tired than he thought. "We're not sure," the gray-haired man said quietly. "It all happened so quickly. Then Mokuba called and we knew we had to find you two."

"Dartz."

Seto snapped his head to the side to look at Yami. "What?"

Yami met his gaze evenly. "Dartz," he repeated. "He's the leader of the organization that's attacking us. He's the one directing the pieces. Alister and the others, they're just pawns in some larger chess game. Though why they'd want your company is beyond me…"

Chess. How ironic that he should compare it to chess. I wouldn't even be in this position if not for chess. But who's directing us? Fate?

"Seto?" Yami's worried voice.

Seto suddenly found himself wondering if they had chess in ancient Egypt.

"Seto?" Roland gave his a gentle shake.

"How?"

"They must have hacked into out network."

"Without you knowing?" the brown haired girl asked. Tea, he guessed her name was.

Seto nodded. "She's right. It's impossible."

"Obviously not if it just happened to you," the brown haired guy, Travis? Taylor? Tristan? did it matter? asked.

Seto sent him a glare that said go crawl under a rock and die, which Tristan, for that was his name, gladly would have done had the piercing blue gaze stayed on him any longer than it had. "So now what?" Seto asked faintly to no one in particular.

"Now we contact Duke, Rebecca, and Dr. Hawkins," Joey said. He sounded…hopeful. Did Seto have any hope left?

"Kaiba?"

The name shattered through Seto's thoughts, bringing his back to reality.

"Got a computer we could borrow, Kaiba?"

Seto winced at the name.

"Seto." Joey and Seto looked at Yami when he spoke, Joey as if the Pharaoh was suicidal and Seto thankfully. "Please?"

Seto nodded. "Follow me." He stepped away from Roland, standing on his own. He should at least look strong, at least look like he knew what he was doing. Even if he really wasn't, really didn't. He crouched down and picked up Alister's still limp body, struggling a little under the weight. The red-head was just a few tears older and a few pounds heavier than the brunette, and in his weakened state, Seto really felt the difference.

Refusing Roland's help, he walked to the helicopter, doing a fine job of hiding his limp, even while going up the steps. He laid the unconscious duelist on a bench at the back and fell to his knees beside it. Roland was right. He did need time to recover. Later.

A shadow fell across him and he turned around to see Joey laying an unconscious person on the bench across from Alister. He looked familiar. Short, with a tuft of purple bangs sticking out from the front of a red hat. A ridiculous frilled coat. Rex Raptor, former Duel Monsters champion.

"The Orichalcos took him," Joey answered Seto's unasked question.

Seto nodded.

"So…It's Seto now?"

Seto nodded.

Joey grinned and held out a hand.

Seto looked at the blonde's outstretched hand for a moment before reaching up and taking it. Joey pulled the former CEO to his feet and supported his weight as the brunette leaned on him. "Thanks," Seto said quietly.

Joey grinned at him again. "No problem, Seto."

As soon as they were all seated, Roland handed Seto his briefcase, out of which the brunette pulled his laptop. As Mokuba bandaged his ankle, Seto contacted Rebecca and gave the computer to Yami so the two could speak through the web cam.

"We've got to see those pictures!" Yami burst out midway through the conversation, referring to the pictures Dr. Hawkins and his team took at the underwater temple, the pictures that were stolen by Dartz.

"Don't bother," Seto said wearily, leaning back and closing his eyes. "I've already got a team down there. If you give me the laptop, I can have them send me what they've got so far."

The others looked at him in disbelief.

"You know my brother," Mokuba put in happily. "Always one step ahead of everyone else."

"More like a dozen," Yami said, handing the laptop to the former CEO.

Seto did some typing and was soon in contact with his team at the museum in Florida. A few words, and his team was sending the pictures.

Most of the pictures were downloaded onto Seto's laptop when they heard some yelling coming from the other side of the connection. "What's wrong?" Seto asked, more than a little alarmed.

Some more yelling. Then static. The connection had been broken.

Seto sighed. More people hurt because of him. "At least we got the pictures," he said tiredly as he sent them to Rebecca.

On the ground, nearer to Domino City, a young girl named Rebecca turned the computer screen to her grandfather. "Ok, gramps, what's it say?"

Dr. Hawkins looked closely at the screen. "I can't tell," he said at length. "It's too blurry. I can't see what the words say."

Back on the helicopter, Seto looked to Roland and the other guards. "You know, you don't work for me anymore. Just say the word and we'll drop you off somewhere. You owe me nothing."

"No." One of the men stood up. "We'll stay with you until Kaiba Corp is under your control, sir!" The others nodded emphatically at this.

Seto looked to Roland.

"You know I'll always be on your side," the gray haired man said.

"And you," Seto called to the pilot. "Are you with me?"

The pilot nodded forcefully. "Of course, sir."

Touched by this show of loyalty, Seto smiled faintly. "So if I fall, you all go down with me…"

Roland touched his shoulder, nodding.

Seto nodded back. "Then set a course for Kaiba Corp."

"What?" Joey asked, standing up, only to be knocked back down as the helicopter swerved to follow its new course. "Are you nuts?" he continued once he'd regained his balance.

"You heard them," Seto said, pointing to the computer. "The pictures are too blurry. Only my computers at Kaiba Corp are powerful enough to enhance them."

Yami nodded. "Seto's right."

"But," Joey tried again, "you don't even own it anymore!"

Seto looked at him, that determined look they'd all seen at least once or twice lighting a fire behind his icy blue eyes. "Then we break in."

"But…They might have guards and stuff!" the blonde tried again.

"Then we'll fight our way in," Seto said, turning that determined gaze on him. "I plan on getting back what's mine." He glanced at the prone form of Alister. "And even what's not." His fists balled into fists on his lap. "Then I plan on giving them hell for taking it in the first place." He leaned his head back, and stared up at the ceiling as the others told Rebecca of their plans. "Wait for me, Dartz," he muttered quietly before falling into an uneasy half-sleep.

* * *

The helicopter landed by the docks of Domino as the sun was finishing its descent to the horizon. Seto awoke at some soft words from Mokuba and stepped carefully to the ground. So. They'd be breaking in under the cover of darkness. Even better. 

Joey paused beside him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. As they were in the air, while Seto had been pretending to sleep, he had heard them talking about Mai. Seto vaguely remembered her from hi last tournament, but then, she wasn't easy to forget. A beautiful woman with long blonde hair, her beauty outshone only by her skills as a duelist. And her narcissistic attitude. Nevertheless, Joey had feelings for her, even Seto realized that. The woman he loved had been taken by the same organization that had stolen his company. And quite the number of souls as well.

They were both fighting for the same thing again, yet this time Seto wanted to acknowledge it, wanted to show Joey that he understood what he was going through, that he would help him in any way that he could. Seto tried to smile, tried to say thank you, the blonde was trying to give him some semblance of comfort, after all, but nothing came out. Instead, he only stared incomprehensively at his former rival, wondering how he could withstand the pain. Here, Seto was feeling all this grief over someone who up until a few hours ago had been his enemy out to kill him. How must Joey feel, losing someone he truly cared about?

Joey only nodded, as if he understood what Seto had been thinking. For all Seto knew, he could have. Seto was too tired to wear the icy mask he so carefully put on every day. Let them see the real Seto Kaiba, not the strong, confident CEO, but the weak and tired young man hiding behind the mask.

The blonde had turned and was beginning to walk away when Seto suddenly spoke up. "I'm sorry I called you a mutt…" he said impulsively.

Joey paused and turned around, a wide grin on his face; not the fake one that had been plastered there before in false optimism, but his real trademark grin. "Thanks, Seto. But don't go saying stuff like that just yet. You can apologize to me all you want when this is over." He turned to look at the ocean. "Talking like that now, you make me think we may never see each other again. Like you're not planning on coming back."

"Just in case," Seto mumbled.

"Don't," Joey said, looking him straight in the eye. "Don't."

A truck with a trailer-camper was parked by the crates and storage buildings, three people standing out side it, fidgeting, anxious. They made their way over to the new arrivals, joyous calls of "You're alright!" and other happy greetings. Hands were shook, embraces passed around. Tristan drew Duke into a hug and kissed him passionately, not at all to the surprise of anyone else.

"So, what's the plan?" Rebecca asked, sliding her glasses farther up her nose.

Seto, who had been hanging back during the happy greetings, stepped forward. "We break into Kaiba Corp. Enhance those pictures."

Rebecca looked him over, seeming…disappointed. Of course she's disappointed, Seto thought sourly. She was expecting the great Seto Kaiba, the computer genius, cold and determined. The mask. And all she sees now is the pretender that was wearing it, injured and weak.

"We can't have too many people going in," Seto continued, hoping his tone retained a semblance of its old business-like manner. "I'd say even two is pushing it. Breaking into Kaiba Corp won't be easy. I should know, I designed most of the defensive systems myself." Though Dartz didn't seem to have too much trouble getting past them, he thought to himself bitterly. "So obviously I will be going in." A pause, in which he hoped someone would jump in and volunteer. When no one did, he continued. "However, I probably won't be able to do this alone…"

"I'll go."

Everyone's eyes swiveled to focus on Yami. Yes, of course Yami. The official hero-of-the-day.

Seto nodded. "Right, the rest of you probably shouldn't get too close-"

"I'll come for tech-support," Rebecca interrupted.

Seto sighed. Sure, the girl may be incredibly precocious, but she couldn't have been more than twelve years old. She was Mokuba's age… "Look, kid, this isn't a field trip."

Rebecca stood up straighter, glaring up at the most feared former CEO in the world. "I happen to be very good with computers," she said haughtily. "And I'm not a kid."

She kind of reminded him of a younger version of himself. "Whatever, kid," he said, giving up. "But I refuse to be responsible for anyone else."

As the others made their way to the camper, Seto told Roland to make sure Alister and Rex got to a medical center. He protested, of course, but Seto convinced him that they needed more help than he did at the moment. Roland eventually complied.

The rotors began spinning as the engines started up. Seto let the wind they created toy with his hair and send his coat flying behind him. He intended to see them off. _After all, who knows, it might be the last time I see them. I should have sent Mokuba with them. He wouldn't have liked it, but he'd be safer with them than with me. _

Suddenly, there was someone standing beside him. He felt, rather than saw the presence of the Pharaoh. He turned his head, looking quizzically down at Yami.

Yami stood watching the helicopters as they began their ascent. How frail he looked, the wind buffering his thin body, the forlorn look in his crimson eyes.

"They sent me to bring you back," he said at length. "It's time to go."

Seto said nothing, watching as the helicopters flew off into the distance. The sun was almost gone, the remaining light painting the sky with dazzling reds and purples. The sight of it reflecting off the water was beautiful and should have filled him with an inner peace if some sort.

It didn't.

"You don't have to always feel so responsible for everyone."

Seto once again answered him with silence.

"I know you feel responsible for what happened to Alister."

Nothing.

"Someone should be responsible for you too. Plenty of people would be willing, if only you'd let them."

Seto looked down at him. "Are you volunteering?"

Yami shrugged. "It's my job, isn't it? I _am_ the official-hero-of-the-day." He flashed Seto a quick grin before heading back to the camper.

"If anyone were to be responsible for me, I'd feel like I owed them something," Seto said quietly to the ocean.

Yami paused and turned around. "You'd owe me nothing."

"I'll help you find Yugi," Seto said as he turned to face the spirit. "I swear."

A sad smile. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Seto."

To be continued…

AN: Hehe, I already had this chapter written when I posted chapter one. Chapter three is almost done too, I think.

Meh, I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this chapter…Nothing really happened except for Seto angsting…and just to let you know, I don't think this story will follow the whole storyline of the show. Mostly because I haven't seen the whole season…haha. But it'd be boring if I followed the storyline. Right? Right? Er, nevermind. (Sigh) The next chapter will be more exciting though. I hope...


	3. A Warning

_Cerulean: Blue: Sadness.  
Lament: To grieve over.  
Seto discovers something in Alister that he refuses to give up without a fight.  
How far would you go to save your enemy's soul?_

Warnings: Shounen-ai, out-of-character characters, dub names

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

**Cerulean Lament**

**Chapter 3: A Warning**

The sound of their footsteps echoing in the dark. Heavy breathing as they ran. Other than that, silence.

A stumble, a yell of pain, an almost fall.

The other set of footsteps stopped abruptly. "Are you ok?"

A string of curses.

"Shall I take that as a yes or a no?"

Seto pushed himself off the wall. "I'm fine." But he didn't sound fine, not even to himself. The pain in his ankle had blossomed into a stabbing agony. He could barely stand, let alone run, and Yami saw it.

"How much farther?" the Pharaoh asked.

Seto clenched his teeth. "The door should be up ahead," he said. "It's too dark to see. If only we'd brought," a gasp of pain, "flashlights." He leaned against the wall again, breathing harshly. He shut his eyes tight, hoping to stem the tears of pain that threatened to fall from their cerulean depths. "I'm sorry," he gasped out, his inability to control the tone of his voice matching his inability to keep up with the uninjured Yami.

A slender pair of arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him up off the wall. "I'll help you," Yami said, somehow supporting the taller and heavier teen's weight on his frail form. "It's not as if we're in any hurry."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "It's only a matter of time until they realize we're down here."

Yami shrugged. "Nothing we can't handle." He looked up ahead. "Hey, is that it?"

The faint light of the underground tunnel gleamed dully off a pair of metal doors. Seto nodded. "Yeah. Get me closer."

"Yes, master," Yami replied sarcastically.

But Seto wasn't listening to him. He fingered his card-shaped locket for a moment, then pulled it off and slid it through the lock. A small green light lit up and the doors slid open, revealing a slightly better lit elevator.

Yami looked impressed. "Why Seto, the locket doubles as a key? And I thought you were just a pretty face."

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Seto grumbled as the doors slid shut behind them.

"I just thought I'd try your way of dealing with fear. Denying it and covering it with sarcasm."

Seto frowned at him.

Yami rolled his eyes. "If we can clear up those pictures, it might get us one step closer to freeing Yugi! And Alister. And everyone else."

Seto was still frowning.

"Well," Yami admitted, "that and I get to feel you up without you being able to do anything about it." The Pharaoh's hand dropped from Seto's waistto a bit lower than the brunette would have liked.

Seto glared at him. "If you don't remove your hand from my ass by the time I count to five, so help me, sprained ankle or no, I _will_ dropkick you."

Yami grinned.

"One…"

There was a thump on the roof. The elevator stopped.

Yami looked up. "I think there's something on top of the elevator…"

"No kidding," Seto hissed back.

They both stared fearfully at the top of the small metal box they were now trapped in. Hours passed as they waited, or so it seemed like hours to the two prisoners. After a few minutes, however, when there were no more noises, Seto deemed it appropriate to speak.

"I think it's gone," the brunette whispered.

A thump came from outside one of the walls. Yami glanced fearfully at Seto.

A claw tore through the metal wall as if it were paper. "Down!" Yami yelled, throwing himself at Seto, bringing them both to the ground. Seto let out a cry of pain that turned into one of surprise as a huge monster flew over them and tore through the back of the elevator.

"That…was no hologram!" the brunette gasped out from under Yami.

Yami nodded and quickly got off of Seto, offering the former CEO his hand. "Sorry about that," he said, keeping his eyes downcast. "I'll bet that hurt-"

"You saved my life," Seto cut him off. "There's nothing to apologize for."

"But your ankle-"

"Was already hurt. It's fine, really." Seto took off his trench coat, intending to leave it behind, when he heard something small fall to the floor. Curiously, he turned his head a fraction to look at the small gleaming object from a different angle. Suddenly, he gasped and threw his coat in a corner, swiftly kneeling down and picking the object up.

"What is it?" Yami asked, looking over Seto's shoulder at the necklace with the small green stone hanging off it.

Seto clenched the necklace tightly in his fist, the object reminding him with sharp detail of his last encounter with Alister. The thought made his face burn. "It's nothing," he said, standing up to face Yami.

The Pharaoh shrugged and turned to inspect the still closed elevator doors.

While Yami's back was turned, Seto slipped the necklace around his neck, under his shirt where the spirit wouldn't be able to see it. Because when Seto had told Yami it was nothing, he was lying. Because he didn't want the spirit to know how important the small green stone had just become to him. Because the necklace had belonged to his stalker, his enemy, his inner demon, his reflection.

It had belonged to Alister.

"So now what?" Yami asked, breaking Seto from his thoughts.

Limping only slightly to the doors, Seto said simply, "We get out." With that, he opened the control panel and smashed the controls with his fist. The doors slid open, revealing the dark corridor beyond. Seto leaned gratefully on his once rival's shoulder and together they made their way into the hall.

A horde of monsters was waiting for them.

Yami shifted beside him. "Seto, I know this may be hard for you to believe, but these monsters are real."

"Yami, I was on the elevator, I know."

"I'm glad you've realized that. Now, would you believe that they come from another dimension and that some of them talk?"

Seto raised his eyebrows.

Yami smirked. "Do you have a better explanation?"

Seto smirked back. "I think you're nuts. But we haven't got time to argue." He activated his duel disk. "Shall we?"

Yami did the same. "After you."

Together, they barged into the mass of monsters. Yami summoned his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. Seto summoned his Vorse Raider. The two monsters began hacking a path for their duelists to follow.

Seto's ankle was killing him now. He clenched his hands into fists, his nails digging into his palms, making small drops of blood form around his nails. But he didn't notice. He felt like he was….falling. No, the rest of the world was falling away from him, taking his troubles and worries along with it. Even the pain in his ankle was receding. Suddenly, he wasn't in a dark monster-filled passageway deep beneath Kaiba Corp. There was a clear blue sky above him, the bright sun's warm rays beating down friendly upon his back. He appeared to be standing on a floor of fluffy white clouds.

And fluffy wasn't a word Seto used lightly.

"Where…am I?" he asked, not expecting an answer, as there wasn't a soul in sight.

"You're the genius," a voice said behind him. "You tell me."

That voice…Seto spun around and came face to face with Alister. His eyes widened. "But how?"

Alister shrugged. "No clue. But it is rather nice here. Much better than where I was before." He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, drifting lazily to land in an especially fluffy looking pile of clouds.

Seto blinked, choosing to ignore for the moment the physical impossibilities of what he was seeing. "Where were you?" he asked, folding his legs beneath him to sit in front of the red-haired duelist. Funny, his ankle felt fine now.

Shaking his head, Alister propped himself on one elbow so he could look at the brunette seated before him. "I don't know. Where all lost souls go, I suppose. It was dark, that's all I remember. Dark and cold. And…" He trailed off and met Seto's eyes directly. "Lonely."

Shifting uneasily, Seto turned away.

"I didn't expect to be seeing you so soon," Alister continued, also looking away. "Actually, I never thought I'd see you again. In Hell, maybe. If lost souls can even make it to Hell."

"Sorry to disappoint you. I'm not finished yet. Hell will have to wait."

Smiling softly, Alister replied, "Yes, I'm glad. It's so good to see you again. I just hope you don't fall as well…"

"Stop being so dramatic."

The intensity of his voice made Alister look up again.

"You're not lost. You haven't fallen. Your soul just isn't where it's supposed to be right now. I will fix that soon enough." His eyes were filled with passion, an unspoken promise that he _would_ indeed do as he said.

"Yes," Alister said. "I am not lost. Not as long you keep me in your mind, Seto."

Seto snorted. "And I suppose that's how you're communicating with me right now? I'm having an out of body experience or some nonsense like that?"

The red head shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe you're just hallucinating. Either way, I don't care. I'm here to warn you, Seto."

"Warn me? About what?"

"Be careful of Dartz."

"Who?"

"You'll know him when you see him. Trust me."

"But-"

"Shhh." Alister put his hand on Seto's arm. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

All words fled from Seto's mind at the touch. All except for two. "I promise," he whispered.

Alister smirked. "I'll hold you to that, Seto. See you in Hell."

"Hn. Sooner than that, if I have my way."

"Let's hope you do. Goodbye, Seto."

Seto stood. Pain flooded his ankle. The beginning of Alister's name became a cry of pain. "Wait!" he gasped out.

"Wake up, Seto."

Seto fell to his knees.

"Seto. Wake up."

His voice…It was changing…

"Seto."

He sounded like…

"Seto!"

…Yami?

To be continued…

AN: Well, here's a short chapter to hold everyone over. I've been really busy lately, and I know I'm not going to have time to post everything this weekend (Anime Boston! I'm going as Millie from Trigun with a group of friends) so I typed up this short chapter. And it's a cliff-hanger! Gasp!

R&R!


	4. Escape

_Cerulean: Blue: Sadness.  
Lament: To grieve over.  
Seto discovers something in Alister that he refuses to give up without a fight.  
How far would you go to save your enemy's soul?_

Warnings: Shounen-ai, out-of-character characters, dub names

Well, chapter four's up and school's almost over! I'm happy!

Again, thanks for the reviews!

**Cerulean Lament**

**Chapter Four: Escape**

Seto opened his eyes. Deep crimson ones looked back, worry evident in their cherry depths. "Yami?" he asked, clutching his aching head as he sat up. He was back in the dark corridor filled with monsters. He and Yami were sitting against a wall, Yami's Obnoxious Celtic Guardian standing defensively in front of them, keeping the flood of monsters at bay. Seto's Vorse Raider was nowhere in sight.

"What happened?" Seto asked dozily.

Yami slipped under Seto's arm and pulled his taller companion up. Seto cried out in pain as his ankle hit the floor. Yami quickly apologized, then explained, "You tripped. You were only out for about a minute, but your Vorse Raider was defeated." He quickly glanced over his shoulder. "And my Celtic Guardian will be too, as well as us if you can't get us out of here."

"Right." Seto was missing his cloud-filled dream already. "There should be a set of doors up ahead."

The Pharaoh nodded and quickly brought Seto to the steal doors, the brunette stifling cries of pain every other step. Once they were directly in front of the doors, Seto once again took out his locket-key and slid it through the lock.

The doors remained closed.

"What?" Seto frantically slid the card through again. The doors still didn't open. "They must have changed the codes," he said, quietly disbelieving.

A cry of pain made them both turn around to witness Yami's Celtic Guardian being slashed into pieces by a monster. They were defenseless.

Yami cursed.

Seto looked at him, surprised.

"What?" the Pharaoh asked, catching his look.

Seto shrugged. "I half thought you'd swear in Egyptian…Or something…"

Yami laughed. "So this is how I will meet my end. Laughing."

Seto shrugged again. "Why not?"

"No one's dying!"

Seto and Yami looked up as Rebecca's voice came down from mounted speakers on the walls.

"Need a hand, boys?" she asked smirkingly. At that, the doors slid open. Yami dragged Seto through and the doors slid shut behind them, decapitating the claw of a monster that had been a little too careless.

The claw began to twitch on the floor.

"I'm glad I tagged along on Kaiba's little field trip," Rebecca said smugly. "Let me know if you want me to upgrade your system."

"I'll think about it," Seto said dully, watching as the monster claw twitched.

"Come on." Yami took the brunette's arm. "Where are we going next?"

Seto looked around and pointed down another gloomy corridor. "There. But if they've changed the codes, the doors might not open…"

"Don't worry about it," Rebecca's voice came from an unseen speaker. "I'll be the door-opener. You guys just hurry."

Nodding, Seto and Yami started running, though later Seto would stop to wonder just how he survived that night with a sprained ankle. He tried not to think of the pain as he dashed down the hall next to the Pharaoh. Instead, he concentrated on the running itself, the forcing of one foot in front of the other, the doors opening before them and closing behind them, and of Yami running beside him.

They soon reached a larger set of doors, which Rebecca immediately opened. The two dashed in and were suddenly surrounded by computers and large wall-sized monitors. They had made it to Seto's secret computer lab.

"I can't access the central computer," Rebecca's voice drifted down to them. "It's on a different system."

Once again taking out his locket, Seto said, "I'll take it from here." He slid the key through a lock, accessing a retinal scan. Once the machine had accepted the scan, a voice test came up. Seto spoke his name and the computer asked for instructions.

"Shut down and reboot with backup," Seto ordered the system, taking back control of his company, for the moment, at least. He slid the disk containing the pictures of the ruins into the drive and told the computer to analyze each image, cross-referencing them with every known archaeological database. As the computers began to do this, Seto opened the link so Rebecca and everyone else above ground could see too.

Under the truck and trailer, under the road at the main entrance to Seto's underground corridors to Kaiba Corp, Dr. Hawkins looked closely at the enhanced images he was seeing. "Amazing," he breathed.

"What is it?" Duke asked from next to Honda.

"The inscriptions," Dr. Hawkins said. "The inscriptions read: 'After its ten thousand year long slumber, the black serpent will swallow the sun, and then paradise will rule once more.'"

"But what's it mean?" Rebecca asked.

Muttering still, as if to himself, Dr. Hawkins said softly, "I've had my suspicions, but I never thought…" He looked down at his granddaughter. "I think it means…Atlantis…It will rise again."

Back in the underground computer room, Seto was staring intently at a picture. "This looks familiar," he mumbled half to Yami, but more so to himself. Before Yami could ask what he meant, the computer connected the all-too familiar green lines of an all too familiar symbol.

The brunette shook his head. "No. Well, yes, that's what it is, but…" Blue eyes widened as realization crossed the former CEO's face. "Paradias," he whispered. He shook his head, leaned his head back, then yelled it to the ceiling. "Paradias!"

Before Yami had a chance to even try to make anything of what his companion was saying, the brunette's fist came crashing down onto the metal desk. Yami heard the snap of a finger breaking, but Seto didn't seem to notice. "Seto?" Yami asked, cautiously reaching a hand to touch the taller teen's shoulder. "Seto, what-"

Seto shook Yami's hand off and stood up, continuing his mumbling as he paced. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before! How foolish could I have-"

"Seto!"

The brunette suddenly stopped his pacing and spun to face the Pharaoh. "Paradias," he said again, "is a secret financial organization that's rumored to control a small portion of every company in the world." He sat down at one of the computers and brought up another picture. "Your friend Dartz," at this, Seto jerked a thumb at the image, a young man in a deep purple business suit with long silver hair, one eye green, the other gold, "is the president."

Yami gasped. "Are you sure?"

Seto shrugged. "How should I know? I've never seen the guy before."

The sound of a computer exploding made them both jump. The sound of several more made Yami pull Seto out of his chair and away from the flying glass fragments.

"What the hell?" Seto looked upon the ruin that was once his computer lab. What was left of the computers was twisted hunks of metal, some still smoking; random wires and shattered glass.

Before Seto had time to grieve for his lost computers, Yami tugged fretfully at his sleeve. "Seto?"

Seto, who by this time was not in the best of moods, spun around, growling. "What?" he snapped. His eyes, however, went past Yami to the sight before them, what Yami's trembling finger was pointing at. A huge dragon now lay before them, its eyes and fangs sparkling malevolently. It was not the dragon, but rather the person currently standing on its head that they were so surprised to see.

The man smiled, before throwing off his cloak. Long, white hair came cascading down over shining metal armor. One green eye and one golden eye looked down at them, disdain and amusement showing through. A deep chuckle escaped his throat, slowly growing deeper and louder until it was a maniacal cackle. Darkness engulfed them all – the room, the twisted remains of the computers – disappeared.

Seto, being the business man that he was, was the first to regain his composure. "Dartz, I assume," he said, an air of arrogance surrounding him, a defiant refusal to let this man frighten him.

Dartz smiled. "Why, yes. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kaiba." He gave an elegant bow.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," Seto snorted, angrily unable to deny the man was graceful, like a butterfly floating through the air, as cliché as that sounded. At this analogy, Seto was unable to contain a chuckle. Yes, the man was a butterfly all right. Flamboyant as hell.

Dartz only smiled more. "Care to share what's so funny, High Priest?"

Seto's head snapped up to toss the white-haired stranger an icy glare. "Do not call me that."

"Why not?" He paused, regarded the brunette for a few long moments. Suddenly, the smile returned. Eerie, Seto thought as a shiver ran up his spine. "Yes, I remember you," Dartz continued. "From that battle, long ago in Egypt." Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and Seto was no longer wearing the sleeved black shirt and leather pants he was used to, but a white kilt, a royal purple tunic with a large gold ankh on the chest, a flowing white cape, and a tall head dress, also accented in gold. Dartz looked over his handiwork, then frowned, finding a flaw in his perfect replica of the priest's garb. He smiled suddenly, and snapped his fingers once more. The kilt became shorter and the tunic disappeared, revealing the brunette's little seen torso.

"There," Dartz said, nodding to himself. "Much better."

Seto felt the color rising on his face, from anger or just plain embarrassment he couldn't say. He was so flustered that no words came out when he opened his mouth to speak.

Apparently, Yami had no such problem.

"That's enough, Dartz!" the Pharaoh cried, drawing up to his full, if a bit meager, height.

Dartz chuckled lightly. "Ah, yes. How nice to see you again, Pharaoh. Been betrayed by anyone close to you lately?"

Yami growled and activated his duel disk. "Your ranting is painful. Let's duel."

Seto reached for his duel disk and did the same, breaking Dartz's illusion and returning to his normal clothes. The two duelists both drew their legendary dragon cards, Yami with the Eye of Timaeus and Seto with the Fang of Critius. The two majectic beasts appeared at their masters' summons, each standing protectively over their respective duelists. It was quite a sight to behold.

Dartz remained unimpressed. "Why, Timaeus," he said airily, "how is that eye of yours?"

Timaeus reared his head up and let loose a mighty roar that shook Seto and Yami. Dartz remained immovable on his larger beast.

"Now, now," Dartz said, shaking his head, an amused smile crossing his face. "I have no wish to fight. At least, not yet." He raised his arms over his head and closed his eyes. A strong wind began to blow, whipping Seto's and Yami's hair, but somehow not managing to touch Dartz's. He opened his eyes suddenly, the two colored eyes glowing fiercely, and Timaeus and Critius vanished from the two duelists' sides. The wind stopped and Dartz began laughing. "Now do you see?" he asked, once his laughter had subsided. "I didn't come here to challenge you. I came here to warn you. It's easier to surrender." He looked down at the two of them, a feral gleam in his eyes. "However, if you do insist on opposing me, I _will_ crush you in the worst way possible." He straightened, as if hearing something, then took a slight bow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I do believe you have some guests to attend to." With a smirk, he and the dragon disappeared.

As one, Seto and Yami spun to face the two metal doors, currently being clawed down by an array of monsters.

"Come on!" Seto shouted as he grabbed Yami's arm and lunged for a secret elevator. They reached it just as the monsters tore the doors down. They flooded into the room as one large wave, claws and fangs glinting menacingly. The elevator doors closed just as the first of the monsters saw them and lunged for the metal doors.

"Now where are you going?" Yami demanded, looking at the digital numbers over the doors as they counted the floors they were swiftly counting.

"Up," Seto replied tersely. "To the roof."

"The roof? But-"

Seto cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Just trust me," he said quietly.

Yami opened his mouth as if to say something, thought better of it and remained silent, only nodded.

The rest of the ride to the top was in silence, except for the scraping and roaring of monsters climbing up the elevator shaft beneath them.

The elevator shuddered to a stop and the doors opened. Seto grabbed Yami's arm and pulled him out of the elevator, leading them closer and closer to the edge of the building. A few steps away, the monsters burst out of the elevator shaft, coming up in a raging wave, like water released from a dam. Seto cursed and spun them both around, still keeping a tight grip on Yami's arm, ever so slowly backing them to the edge of the monstrous skyscraper.

"Now what?" Yami asked nervously.

Seto only laughed. "Now we make our grand escape." With that, he drew a card from his deck and slammed it onto his duel disk without even looking at it. A bright white light flashed, momentarily blinding them. When they could see again, a dazzling white dragon stood majestically before them, its wings spread protectively around them. Seto's grin widened, his eyes took on that half-crazed look he got whenever he was in the heat of battle. "Now, my Blue Eyes!" he cried, standing tall, pointing a condemning finger at the attacking monsters. "Attack!"

The dragon roared mightily, throwing back its head as a beam of purest white light shot from its jaws, demolishing the front line of the attackers.

The Pharaoh watched, his eyes wide as he suddenly wondered just how he was always able to defeat the dragon master. "Seto?" he called above the roar of monsters. "Seto, this is all well and good, but to defeat _all_ these monsters with just your Blue Eyes..?"

Suddenly broken from his trance, Seto's eyes moved reluctantly from his dragon in all its glory to the small and tired looking Pharaoh. "Right." He once again grabbed Yami's wrist and turned them around, looking out over the building to the tops of the other skyscrapers of Domino. "Jump," Seto said softly.

"What!"

Seto cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand. "I trusted you," he said, referring to their adventure in Noa's virtual world. "I jumped for you. Now it's your turn. Trust me," his eyes pleaded.

Yami looked down from the dizzying height, hesitated, then looked again to Seto. "I trust you," he said at last, quietly so that Seto barely heard him. But he did hear him, gave Yami a thankful smile, grabbed his hand.

They both jumped off the building, in silence, hand in hand.

Yami felt strangely peaceful. He was falling, but Seto was there, his chestnut hair whipping around his face, sharp blue eyes on his, always on his, a constant source of reassurance. It felt so right. Yami was sure something like this must have happened in the past because he suddenly knew that everything would be alright.

A flash of silver and blue flew by them. Yami yelped in fright, closed his eyes, then opened them again. A long gleaming neck stretched out before him. A striking blue eye was turned to him, as if to make sure he was aright. "Seto?" he asked, half expecting the dragon to answer.

A long pair of arms grabbed him from behind. "W-What's going on?" Seto's shaky voice asked fearfully.

"Your dragon saved us," Yami replied with a warm smile. "Isn't that what you planned?" The smile faded. "Isn't it?"

Seto's arms tightened around his smaller companion, as if Yami were his life line and if he let go he would plummet to his doom. "Actually, I'd planned for one of my jets to have been hovering here to catch us…" He reached tentively down, fingers brushing smooth silver scales. "It's real?" he asked, sounding like a child unable to believe the sky really is blue.

"So you could believe that the evil man-eating monsters are real, but you don't believe your own Blue Eyes is?" Yami sighed. "My dear Seto, you have much to learn."

Sighing, Seto let his head drop to Yami's shoulder. "I suppose." He was tired, so tired. The sun was beginning to rise. Slants of light emerged from the horizon, banishing the darkness from the skies. He hoped Mokuba had slept some. Sleep, yes, he dearly wanted to sleep. His eyes slowly drifted shut.

They snapped open when Yami cried out. The Blue Eyes had disappeared to be replaced by one of Seto's jets. A jet that was currently on fire and losing altitude fast. Seto looked around. An impish creature with wings was hovering in the air beside them, cackling wickedly. Seto cried out and turned his attention to the blinking control panel.

"We've got to land it," he said aloud, climbing over Yami to get to the control panel. He tried to pull the plane up, but only succeeded in making another light on the panel turn red and beep angrily.

With a final cry of anger, he hit the control panel with bared fists. "We're doomed."

Yami shook his head. "No, we're not."

Seto sighed. "Yami, I can't land this-"

"It doesn't matter. We'll be fine."

"But-"

"No!" Yami's eyes shone with determination. "We've come too far to fail now. The gods won't let us die like this, not now."

Yami's proud stare left little room for failure. Seto inwardly sighed and reached for the control panel. A small hand shot out and caught his wrist. Seto looked up, Yami gave a slight shake of his head. Their eyes held an unspoken argument in which Seto protested and Yami once again shot him down. Seto eventually gave up, crossed his arms firmly over his chest, and leaned back. Yami did the same.

They sat hopeful, doubting, helpless, as they fell through the air.

The ground crept ever closer. Seto tensed with each passing second, his heartbeat and breathing taking on a wild tempo. Yami, on the other hand, was completely calm. Sensing Seto's anxiety, he turned in his seat to face the brunette. Seto was staring out the window, watching the ground come closer and closer. The Pharaoh frowned, reached out and touched the former CEO's cheek, making him jump. Seto pulled away, but Yami put his other hand out, grasped Seto's face, forced their eyes to meet.

Deep crimson eyes threatened to consume his soul. Seto tried to resist, but the Pharaoh's eyes pulled him deeper, washing over him in a crimson tide. Suddenly, all was calm. There was no tension, no impending doom. Only hues of red and violet.

A flash of silver swooped under them, catching the jet lightly before it hit the ground. The dragon set the machine lightly down.

Seto smiled serenely. Reds and violets danced before him. The brunette closed his eyes and slumped forward, onto Yami, before passing into peaceful darkness.

...To be continued…

w00t! I seem to have an obsession with eyes! Anyway, finals are this Friday and next Monday! Then no more school till next year, my last year of high school! Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner over the summer!

Thanks for reading!


End file.
